president obama is modestly optimistic. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin has more on what needs to happen in order to make a deal. >> reporter: alison, christi, hi. the good news is things could have been worse. it doesn't seem to those of us watching from the sidelines as though time is running out, but congress does some of its best or at least its speediest work when the nation's back is against the wall. after a rare oval office meeting with top congressional leaders, the president said he's modestly optimistic a deal can come together. emphasis on "modestly." >> the american people are watching what we do here. obviously, their patience is already thin. this is deja vu all over again. >> reporter: both sides left an agreement, at least over their next step. >> we'll be, would go hard to try to see if we can get there in the next 24 hours. >> whatever we come up with is going to be imperfect. some people aren't going to like it. some will like it less, but that's where we are. >> reporter: on saturday